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Fire Tom Ridge
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Fire Tom Ridge
Posted: April 26, 2002
1:00 a.m. Eastern
c 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
It's been seven months since President Bush appointed former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to head the new Office of Homeland Security.
Is the nation any more secure?
I don't think so. State officials involved in the program say they are concerned about the lack of guidance they are getting from Washington. The money they were promised has not been forthcoming. The priorities set by Ridge show he does not understand what needs to be done to protect the American people from the inevitable next wave of terrorism.
Now that America has been attacked by foreign enemies, now that we know our country is vulnerable, now that we understand there are still foreign terrorist moles operating inside the gates, it's time to encourage real Americans to defend themselves, prepare themselves. Here's some of what needs to be done and where Ridge is falling down on the job:
One efficient and common-sense way we can combat airline terrorism is to arm our pilots. Ridge has steadfastly opposed this idea.
It's time to ensure that every good American has access to firearms for the protection of family and community. Ridge has been squishy on the issue of the Second Amendment ever since he got into politics.
There has been no effort, under Ridge's leadership, to take the necessary precautions to protect Americans from radioactive fallout - the type that we can expect from a nuclear warhead or the kind of "dirty bomb" the terrorists have sought to develop. Nuclear shelters are also an effective defense against chemical and biological attacks.
Ridge has failed to recognize the seriousness of the security threat posed by lax border control and the policies of the Immigration and Naturalization Service - yes, the same INS that granted, posthumously anyway, one of the Sept. 11 hijackers the right to stay in the country.
I could go on and on. The government, as I have pointed out repeatedly in the last seven months, is not getting the job done - not where it counts here at home.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush had what amounted to a blank check in terms of public opinion to do what was necessary to protect and defend the United States of America. Appointing Ridge to this key position and permitting him to squander that mandate is a tragedy for this country.
Americans have no idea what to expect or what is expected of them. They are not being enlisted in this war; they are being assured that everything that can be done is being done for them. That's wrong. That's not how you fight and win a real war. And, make no mistake about it, this is a real war.
Not a dime of your hard-earned tax dollars is actually being spent on protecting you, your children, your family, your neighborhood, your town. That's what defense is all about. That's what Homeland Security really means. It means shelters from the inevitable attacks by nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. It means anti-missile batteries. It means stockpiling of food and medicine. It means radiation monitors. It means civilian evacuation drills. It means securing our borders from infiltration by potential terrorists. It means arming pilots and airline crews. It means arming Americans and encouraging them to be more self-reliant.
Ridge has either failed to address these sound ideas entirely or, even worse, come out in opposition to them.
We need real defense in this country, not the phony kind that we hear about from the Pentagon and Congress. I'm not talking about America's ability to project lethal force in remote corners of the world. I'm talking about defense, not offense. I'm talking about the good, old-fashioned concept of protecting the lives of innocent Americans from foreign or domestic threats.
I'm not talking about new weapons systems. I'm not talking about new bombers. I'm not talking about sophisticated new missiles. I'm not talking about transport planes or battleships or carriers. I'm not even talking about just some kind of impenetrable missile-defense system. Even that wouldn't address all of the threats we as a nation face.
I'm talking about protecting you, your children, your grandchildren from attacks that are coming as surely as you are reading this column today.
At this very moment, terrorists are planning to wreak havoc on America with weapons of mass destruction.
At this very moment, foreign rogue states are working on nuclear weapons technology with an eye toward achieving a kind of extortionist parity with the United States of America.
At this very moment, foreign nations you are supporting with your hard-earned tax dollars and others your nation is propping up with preferential trade practices have nuclear weapons pointed at America's cities.
America is defenseless against all of these threats - utterly defenseless.
It would be one thing if our potential enemies were also defenseless, but they are not. They have used technologies developed here in the United States - technologies you, the taxpayer, have supported - and put them to use defending their people and infrastructure with an eye toward surviving a nuclear war.
In America, we have convinced ourselves that nuclear war is not survivable - that it is not worth surviving. It's a defeatist mentality that ensures this country will not survive.
We need leadership to get us out of that mindset. Tom Ridge is not providing it. It's time for him to go.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27399
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Posted: April 26, 2002
1:00 a.m. Eastern
c 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
It's been seven months since President Bush appointed former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to head the new Office of Homeland Security.
Is the nation any more secure?
I don't think so. State officials involved in the program say they are concerned about the lack of guidance they are getting from Washington. The money they were promised has not been forthcoming. The priorities set by Ridge show he does not understand what needs to be done to protect the American people from the inevitable next wave of terrorism.
Now that America has been attacked by foreign enemies, now that we know our country is vulnerable, now that we understand there are still foreign terrorist moles operating inside the gates, it's time to encourage real Americans to defend themselves, prepare themselves. Here's some of what needs to be done and where Ridge is falling down on the job:
One efficient and common-sense way we can combat airline terrorism is to arm our pilots. Ridge has steadfastly opposed this idea.
It's time to ensure that every good American has access to firearms for the protection of family and community. Ridge has been squishy on the issue of the Second Amendment ever since he got into politics.
There has been no effort, under Ridge's leadership, to take the necessary precautions to protect Americans from radioactive fallout - the type that we can expect from a nuclear warhead or the kind of "dirty bomb" the terrorists have sought to develop. Nuclear shelters are also an effective defense against chemical and biological attacks.
Ridge has failed to recognize the seriousness of the security threat posed by lax border control and the policies of the Immigration and Naturalization Service - yes, the same INS that granted, posthumously anyway, one of the Sept. 11 hijackers the right to stay in the country.
I could go on and on. The government, as I have pointed out repeatedly in the last seven months, is not getting the job done - not where it counts here at home.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush had what amounted to a blank check in terms of public opinion to do what was necessary to protect and defend the United States of America. Appointing Ridge to this key position and permitting him to squander that mandate is a tragedy for this country.
Americans have no idea what to expect or what is expected of them. They are not being enlisted in this war; they are being assured that everything that can be done is being done for them. That's wrong. That's not how you fight and win a real war. And, make no mistake about it, this is a real war.
Not a dime of your hard-earned tax dollars is actually being spent on protecting you, your children, your family, your neighborhood, your town. That's what defense is all about. That's what Homeland Security really means. It means shelters from the inevitable attacks by nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. It means anti-missile batteries. It means stockpiling of food and medicine. It means radiation monitors. It means civilian evacuation drills. It means securing our borders from infiltration by potential terrorists. It means arming pilots and airline crews. It means arming Americans and encouraging them to be more self-reliant.
Ridge has either failed to address these sound ideas entirely or, even worse, come out in opposition to them.
We need real defense in this country, not the phony kind that we hear about from the Pentagon and Congress. I'm not talking about America's ability to project lethal force in remote corners of the world. I'm talking about defense, not offense. I'm talking about the good, old-fashioned concept of protecting the lives of innocent Americans from foreign or domestic threats.
I'm not talking about new weapons systems. I'm not talking about new bombers. I'm not talking about sophisticated new missiles. I'm not talking about transport planes or battleships or carriers. I'm not even talking about just some kind of impenetrable missile-defense system. Even that wouldn't address all of the threats we as a nation face.
I'm talking about protecting you, your children, your grandchildren from attacks that are coming as surely as you are reading this column today.
At this very moment, terrorists are planning to wreak havoc on America with weapons of mass destruction.
At this very moment, foreign rogue states are working on nuclear weapons technology with an eye toward achieving a kind of extortionist parity with the United States of America.
At this very moment, foreign nations you are supporting with your hard-earned tax dollars and others your nation is propping up with preferential trade practices have nuclear weapons pointed at America's cities.
America is defenseless against all of these threats - utterly defenseless.
It would be one thing if our potential enemies were also defenseless, but they are not. They have used technologies developed here in the United States - technologies you, the taxpayer, have supported - and put them to use defending their people and infrastructure with an eye toward surviving a nuclear war.
In America, we have convinced ourselves that nuclear war is not survivable - that it is not worth surviving. It's a defeatist mentality that ensures this country will not survive.
We need leadership to get us out of that mindset. Tom Ridge is not providing it. It's time for him to go.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27399
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878